THE streets of York and of North Yorkshire coastal towns are bustling this weekend following a surge in visitors on Good Friday. But will that feel-good factor last? Reporter Simon Horsborough visited Scarborough and Emily Rawlins hit the streets of York to find out just how confident the traders and tourists are feeling

BLAZING sunshine and a cool breeze off the North Sea conspired to bring thousands of visitors to Scarborough for Easter.

Many came to enjoy the beach, while others came to walk along the promenade.

But how do visitor numbers compare with other years, when the nation was free from the real - or imagined - effects of foot and mouth disease?

The Hargreaves family from Lancashire said there was a noticeable difference in the amount of people in the town.

"We come here every year for Good Friday so we are in a good position to know whether there are more people here this year - there's loads more," said Joyce Hargreaves.

"We have been across to Whitby this week and its the same there, I definitely think people are avoiding the countryside and coming here instead."

Annie Prest, from Middlesbrough, who is visiting the town during a short break with her family, said there seemed to be many more people than usual.

"I have not seen anything like it. We come here quite often and at this time of year its usually dead, but today we were struggling to find a parking space," she said.

"We would sometimes go on a walk in the countryside - usually the Cleveland Hills - at this time of year, but we were concerned that things might be closed so we came here instead."

Andrew Winkfield, landlord of the Beachcomber Caf on South Beach said trade had never been better on a Bank Holiday.

"Certainly compared to this time last year when the weather was not so good, things are much better," he said.

"I would say there are almost twice as many people on the beach today than there would normally be. Let's hope it stays like this all summer."

Rachel Phillips, who runs donkeys on the South Beach, said she was concerned MAFF would have stopped her moving her animals.

"Fortunately they have allowed us to bring the donkeys onto the beach, as long as we follow strict guidelines," she said.

"I can not see that I am any busier, but then I do think more people will come here because they are avoiding the countryside because of the foot and mouth crisis."

Jim Dungey, engineer on the Tram to Town, said he had not noticed that there were more visitors than usual, but only because parking restrictions along the promenade have changed since last year.

He said: "The council have made a large stretch of the promenade disabled parking only, so not many people are parking there and using the tram to get into town.

"However, I reckon there will be more people in the town this year simply because people do not know whether or not they can go into the countryside."

York has seen tourists make a beeline for the city, confident there will be plenty to do.

Sharon Dobrev, aged 27, arrived here from Manchester with her Bulgarian husband Ludmil.

She said: "It's one of the few places where everything is open at the moment. I'm an architect so I like looking at the buildings."

Ian and Susan Yoxall, from Barnsley, saw an advert for the Jorvik centre on TV and decide to bring their three children.

Dr Jayan and Dr Dwarkanath made the trip from Burnley. Dr Dwarkanath, 30, said: "We can easily get here by train and there are lots of things to do inside if it rains."

But the throngs in the streets seem to be keeping their wallets zipped.

Sally Pettingell, of Heraldic Art and Design, said: "There are more people wandering about, especially outside the Jorvik centre - I've never seen such a long queue there! But the shop is doing about the same."

The slow trade could be because the traditional high-spenders, from countries such as Japan and the United States, are still giving the country a wide berth.

Tony de Souza, who runs Shambles Souvenirs and Gifts with his wife Margaret, said their business is facing a 30 per cent drop in profits, and he believes the major cause is the lack of foreign tourists.

He said: "Busy for us is not when there are people walking around outside, busy is when the till is ringing. We're in trouble this year. First it was the floods that kept them away, then the railways, and now this."

Updated: 10:45 Saturday, April 14, 2001